


Siren Song (Rewrite)

by buckyismymainman



Series: After Effects (Rewrite) [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Especially Mina, F/M, Fluff, Swearing, The gangs all here and they're not doing too hot, Violence, more angst than fluff probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-11-26 07:27:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18177677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckyismymainman/pseuds/buckyismymainman
Summary: Mina is learning to deal with the news that she was experimented on while she was still in her mother's womb. Meant to be a weapon to take over the world with her Siren-like abilities. With the help of Wanda and the others she is training to hone in her abilities, but will things work out in her favor?Bucky is worried about Mina, and wants to help her, but there's only so much that he can do. But he knows that no matter what happens he's going to stand beside Mina and help her through whatever the Enclave throws at her.





	1. Chapter 1

Bucky hated seeing the people he loved in pain, especially his girlfriend Mina. They had been seeing one another for about two months now, but it hadn’t been a bed of roses.  In that time Mina had discovered she was an experiment of four mad scientists who liked to call themselves ‘the Enclave’, and that they wanted to use Mina as a weapon to take over the world.   


Mina had been struggling with that revelation ever since she learned about it.  And Bucky tried being there for her as best as he could, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to help her through this except to be a listening ear when she needed it.   


Right now he was watching her train with Wanda.  Her powers were growing, and she was becoming scared of them the more she learned.  Before she had never been afraid, but after learning her powers had been given to her she was afraid of what she would learn about them next.  

Her body was engulfed in the turquoise flames that used to just in engulf her hands, her eyes were trained on several dummies that were set up in front of her.  Each one of them erupted into the same turquoise flames as he body without her even throwing the fire at them. She could simply think about wanting something on fire and it would light up right before her eyes.   


“How's she doing?”  Bucky heard his best friend Steve Rogers approach, there was a grim look on his face as he watched Mina train.  Everyone at the compound was worried about her, they could see the downward spiral she was going through.   


“As well as one can when learning you have a serum running through you that makes you special.”  Bucky had been right where Mina was when he had started to remember things from his past that HYDRA had wiped from his mind. It hadn’t been a pleasant time for him when he had learned that HYDRA had saved him and turned him into a super soldier to use as their own personal assassin.  He had been the exact opposite of Steve who had become Captain America with the serum used on him. 

“God, I wish there was some way to help her,” Steve sighed.  It had been a month since either of them had seen her carefree smile, had heard her pick on Sam, Pietro, or Peter.  

“She can’t keep going like this Steve, she’s closing herself off, even from me.”  Steve could hear the pain in Bucky’s voice. “I don’t know how to make it better.”   


“We keep trying until we figure that out,” he told his friend.  “Right now she’s in her head. We have to help her out of her head.  She’s too worried about the ‘what ifs’. What if I’m captured? What if I hurt someone I love?”  He folded his arms across his chest. “We need to make her see that she’ll be all right, that she’s still the same person she’s always been.”   


“Has Shuri learned anything from the blood sample?”  When Shuri had arrived Bruce Banner had let Shuri take over his lab at the compound.  No one wanted to get in her way as she worked to help Mina. Sometimes they would discover Shuri fast asleep in the lab and would force her back to the room they had given her while she spent time at the compound.   


“No, she’s still trying to decode what the serum was made from.  It’s different from what we were injected with obviously. Shuri’s stumped as to how a serum could give Mina her fire abilities along with the Siren Call as Shinsky  called it.”  Bucky knew that Shuri was growing frustrated as well as she worked to solve the mystery of Mina’s abilities.   


Bucky chewed on his lip as he tried to work through everything they had learned since discovering Mina had been an experiment.  “We need more info on her. We need those files that were destroyed when the bomb went off.”   
They had had Scott shrink the boxes down, but they couldn’t get them all.  Steve had pulled Bucky from the building just as the bomb was about to explode.  Bucky could sometimes still feel the heat ghosting over his skin.   


“We’ll get it.  Natasha and the others should be back any day now from the other labs.”  They had decided it was best if they run smaller mission groups to the labs, some of the members would stay behind and watch over Mina while the others tried to get more information.  So far they had hit about three different bases but had come up empty.   


All they had discerned from their outings was that Mina was the weapon these scientists were working on.  Her abilities would allow them to insert themselves into governments without force and take over from the inside.  They weren’t planning to take over by force, they were planning a sneak attack, and Mina was their way in.   


“Maybe it was a mistake letting her expand her powers like this,” Bucky started to say.  “Maybe this is what they want. They want her to be more powerful before they take her back and use her.”   


“We’ve all already talked this over and we agreed it was best for Mina to get control over her abilities.  The stronger she is the better she’ll be able to protect herself from an attack.” Steve turned to face his friend.  “Go get her and take the day off. Do something fun, get her away from the compound. The two of you could use it. I’ll have Sam keep an eye on things from above to alert you if something is off.”   


Bucky knew his friend was right.  The two of them did need a day away from the compound, away from training.  Mina hadn’t really had a day off since they had taken that first base. She hadn’t wanted too either, she had wanted to keep working on her powers to become stronger and learn all she could.  

Bucky pushed open the door that led out to the training grounds. Wanda noticed him immediately and told Mina to stop.  When the flames were gone she turned to face Bucky. There was a little smile on her face, one reserved only for him. “Come to take over training?”

Bucky was one of her other trainers, he helped her with hand to hand combat, but also with weapons.  “Not today doll, Steve has given you the rest of the day off. Come with me, we’re going to do something fun.”   


He held out his hand and she took it.  She said her goodbyes to Wanda as the two of them headed inside to put on civilian clothes and so that she could shower.  “So what are we going to do?” The curiosity in her voice made  him happy.   


“And ruin the surprise?”  He grinned at her. “I don’t think so, doll.  You’ll just have to wait and see.”   


She showered and dressed quickly and followed Bucky out to his car.  He drove her to the town where the compound was located and pulled into the parking lot of a Barnes & Noble.  She sat there quietly just staring up at the name before a real smile took over. She shook her head and laughed, “Oh James Buchanan Barnes, you really do know how to cheer a girl up.”   


He kissed her cheek, “Of course I do, I know how much you love books.  Come on, I’ll buy you whatever you want.”   


“Famous last words,” she told him.  She would walk out with the entire store if she could.  But she wasn’t going to spend a ton of money here and then leave Bucky to fit the bill.  “You’re going to be broke by the time I leave here.”   


He cupped her cheek, “As long as you’re smiling again, I don’t care.”   


The pained look on his face broke her heart.  She had let her confusion, anger, sadness, and frustrations consume her that she hadn’t thought about what it might be doing to him or to the others.  She had gone so far inside herself that she had only had concerns for herself. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.   


“Hey, there’s no need to apologize.”  He wished he could hold her, but the car made that a little hard.  “I know what you’re going through isn’t easy. Take all the time you need to be okay again.”   


They got out of the car and walked into the store together.  The smell of books and coffee instantly relaxed Mina. It had been far too long since she had last been in a bookstore.  She forgot how comforting the presence of books could be. She headed over to Starbucks first and grabbed a vanilla bean frappuccino and true to his word Bucky paid for it.   


Once their orders were called Bucky told her he would wait there for her and give her some space to browse.  She grabbed his hand and tugged him along behind her saying that she needed a pair of strong arms to carry all the books he was going to buy her.   


They walked through the different sections together, Mina pointing out her favorites and picking up some new ones by her favorite authors.  When she was all done, Bucky had about five books stacked up.   “Is that all?”  He asked a little baffled.   


Mina smiled at him, “As much as I appreciate you offering to buy out the store for me, I’m not going to get a ton of books.”   


He wasn’t going to argue with her, not because he didn’t want to spend more, but because he knew that she wasn’t going to get anything else while here.  They paid for the books and headed back out to the car.   
Mina thought they would be heading home, but Bucky turned off at the wrong exit.  “Buck, you missed the exit.”   


“Did I?”  He glanced over at her and grinned.  “The day is still young, doll, we’re not done yet.”   


It took her a minute to realize they were going to see her parents.  She hadn’t seen them since they had come to the compound to have dinner with her and Bucky one night.  She hadn’t even told them about what she had learned, and she wasn’t going to. She didn’t need her parents knowing that the doctor that had saved her life had turned her into a weapon to be used when she was older.   


Her parents were so happy to see her, her mom was instantly fussing over Bucky, leading him to a table and telling him he looked skinnier and demanding to know if he had been eating enough since she had last seen him.

Mina and her father stood back and watched as Bucky managed to placate Alia.  “I think you have some competition, Dad,” Mina smiled up at her father who was watching the scene before him with an amused smile.

“I can take him,” he joked.

“Now that I would like to see,” Mina said before heading over to the table where Alia had deposited Bucky.   


Alia and Marcus took their order and headed back to the kitchen to get started on it.  Mina looked around her parents’ familiar restaurant and felt her worries melt away slightly.  It was nice to be back in a familiar setting and not having to worry about what was going on in her life was nice.  She looked over at Bucky who was watching her with a fond smile. She reached across the table and took his hands in hers, the two of them not saying anything as they waited for their order.  

Once dinner was over and Mina had shared some time with her parents, Marcus made some extra pizzas that they could take back with them for the others.  Her mother made her promise that she would invite them over for dinner again soon so that she could see the others. She really wanted to see Steve again.  Mina told them that she would let them know when they could come visit the compound again.   


Mina kissed her parents and headed back out to the car with the boxes in hand.  Bucky opened the back door for her and once she had placed the boxes safely in the backseat of the car she turned to Bucky and said, “Thank you for today.  I think this is the most normal I’ve felt since finding out what those men did to me.”   


“I figured as much,” he told her.  “If you ever need another day like this just say the word and I’m all yours.”   


Mina’s heart swelled in her chest, he was always looking out for her, putting her first.  She was thankful for him. And she had only just started to realize she was falling hopelessly in love with him.

 

That night when Bucky got out of the shower Mina curled up beside him and placed a kiss on his chest.  They had only recently moved in together, both of them thinking it was ridiculous keeping two separate rooms when they were always together.

“I want to train with you tomorrow,” she told him as they laid there together.  “I want to take a break from using my powers or hand to hand. I want to work with weapons.”   


He was happy that she wanted to work with him and take a break from her usual training.  Mina didn’t need to use weapons like the others did and he knew it would be a good way for her to get her mind off of things.  “That we can do, doll. I’ll get up bright and early and get ready for you.”   


“No, I want a lazy morning with you.  Training can wait until the afternoon after lunch.”  She held him a bit tighter. “Today was a good day, and I just want to hold onto it for a little bit longer, and lounging with you in bed all morning sounds like a perfect way to do so.”   


Bucky chuckled, “Your wish is my command.”  He tilted her face up so that he could kiss her on the lips.  She ran her fingers through his hair as he slipped underneath her shirt, she giggled slightly as his metal fingers tickled her sensitive skin.   


“Every time,” she said as she pulled away to look at him.   


He smirked, “It’s cute.”   


“You like knowing you can torture me because I’m so ticklish,” she said with a mock frown.   


“Maybe,” he admitted with a sly look.  He rolled so that he was on top of her.  “But I like hearing your laughter most of all.”  He bent down and placed a quick kiss on her lips before trailing them down her neck.   


“No bruises James,” she scolded as he gently nipped at her sensitive skin.  “If I have to endure one more day of teasing,” she threatened.   


He pushed her shirt up so that he could kiss her stomach.  “Take all the fun out of it would you?” He grinned up at her.   


She rolled her eyes at him, “I swear sometimes I wonder how old you really are because you  don’t act like a hundred year old man.”  He pinched her thigh, “Ow, James!”   


He kissed the spot he pinched, Mina squirmed a little under his touch.  “Wanna run that by me again?”   


She rolled her eyes, “No.”   


He snorted and moved back up her body and kissed her again.  “Get some sleep.” He gave her a wicked grin.   


“I hate you sometimes, James,” she said as she glared at him.  “You’re such a tease.”   


“I know,” was his soft response as he shut the light off.  As he settled into bed and pulled her against him, Mina knew that this meant war.


	2. Chapter 2

Mina held the gun up, taking aim at the target placed in front of her, and squeezing the trigger just like Bucky had taught her.  The sound of the shot fired reverberated through the room, and even though she was wearing earmuffs the bang was still too loud. 

Mina didn’t know how Bucky managed to stay so still once he had fired a gun, she flinched every time.  He told her it took practice and that she needed to get used to the weapon in her hands. He said that it had taken him some getting used to when he had first started firing weapons, and at this point it was just second nature to him.   
  


“Better,” Bucky commented as he brought the paper target forward.  They had been at this for over an hour and they were already on their third paper target.  “Your aim has definitely improved.”    
  


She had hit close to the center of the target, he had started her off on the center since it was the largest area of a person to hit with a bullet.  Bucky was trying to see how well she would do hitting each section of the target, teaching her how to properly aim. Only one of her bullets had missed the mark. “I think I’m still too scared of guns,” she admitted a bit sheepishly. “They’re intimidating, and to be honest how loud they are scares me.”   
  


“There’s nothing wrong with being frightened of them.  It means you’ll take more precautions before using one which is never a bad thing.”  He took the gun from her and checked to see how many bullets she still had left in the clip, there were a few rounds left, but not many.  “Wanna take a break?”   
  


She nodded and headed over to the little bench to get a drink of water.  Bucky sat beside her and began cleaning one of the sniper rifles. She watched as he worked methodically, it was almost like he was in a trance-like state.  She had noticed this about him before. Sometimes she would just sit and watch him clean his weapons, whether it was his knives or guns. “Do you like cleaning your weapons?”   
  


Bucky looked over at her, the rifle in his hands momentarily forgotten as he considered her question.  “Sometimes? It used to be meditative for me after I was brought out of cryo after Shuri fixed me. Taking them apart, cleaning each piece, and then putting them back together again gave me something to think about other than what I had been doing for HYDRA all those years ago.”  He returned his attention to the rifle. “Sometimes it’s just a chore I’d rather not do.”   
  


She continued to watch him work.  Today seemed like one of those days where it was meditative for him to clean his weapon.  She could understand why he had been worried about her. She felt bad, she didn’t want him to worry, but what was she to do?  She just couldn’t seem to pull herself out of the funk she was in.   
  


Every time she thought she had moved passed it another wave would hit her and she felt like she was drowning.   
  


A phone started ringing, bringing her out of her stupor.  She dug around in her gym bag and pulled her cell out to find that T’Challa was calling her.  “Hey, T’Challa.”   
  


“Hello Little Panther, how are we today?”  His calm, even voice brought a little smile to her face.  She sometimes wished she was back in Wakanda with him sitting in one of the bedrooms watching movies from his impressive collection.   
  


“I’m okay,” she answered truthfully.  Today she felt good, better than she had in a few weeks.  It was probably because of date day yesterday. It had been a much needed distraction from life.  “Bucky’s been teaching me how to fire a gun today.”   
  


“Hello T’Challa,” Bucky called out, never looking up from his gun.   
  


“Hello Bucky,” Mina relayed the message.  “Okoye would not approve. She thinks guns are primitive.”   
  


“Ah, but alas they are apart of today’s society, and if I get into a situation I’d rather be prepared than sorry.”   
  


“I cannot fault you for that logic, Mina.”  There was a pause. “How is Shuri?”   
  


Mina could tell that T’Challa missed his sister.  “She’s good, she’s always in Dr. Banner’s lab working away.  Peter sometimes has to lure her out of there with promises of movies and popcorn.”  It was true, Peter and Shuri’s friendship had grown exponentially since her arrival at the compound, and sometimes only Peter, Bucky, or Mina could draw her out of the lab.   
  


“I’m glad she has friends there.  I do worry about her, but I know you all will take good care of her.  Plus it’s nice that she’s getting away from Wakanda and experiencing life in another country.”   
  


“Of course we will,” Mina promised.  “She’s like family to us, and she enjoys it here.  She has grown quite fond of Starbucks.”   
  


Mina and T’Challa talked for a few more minutes before Mina hung up to get back to her lesson with Bucky.   
  


Later that same evening Mina was perched on the counter in the kitchen watching as Bucky fixed one of the pizzas leftover from her parents’ place.  He was bent over peering at it through the glass window of the stove. Mina was admiring the view, he was wearing his tight jeans and he knew how much Mina liked him in those.   
  


“I can feel you staring,” Bucky said nonchalantly.   
  


“Can you blame me?  You have a nice butt.”  Bucky stood and turned to look at her, an amused look on his face.  “What? You can’t tell me that you don’t stare at my butt when I’m not looking.”   
He couldn’t lie, he did stare at her butt from time to time.  Especially when they were in the gym together and she was wearing her spandex leggings that clung to her curves.  “All right, you caught me. I check you out too.”   
  


She hummed and hooked her legs around his waist, pulling him closer.  “I assumed as much. I see the looks you give me when I change into my workout clothes.”  She ran her hand down his chest, the other wrapping around his neck and pulling him down so that their lips were just inches from one another.   
  


He gulped before responding, “Okay, but don't think I don't know what you're trying to do with those tight pants and sports bras.  You’re trying to torture me.”   
  


She gave him a sultry smile, “I’m just waiting for the day when you can’t take it anymore and keep me from my workout.”  She did put on the tightest workout clothes she could find to torture Bucky, and to see how long he could go without ripping them off.   
  


“Minx,” he whispered.   
  


“You like it,” she whispered back.   
  


“Yeah I do,” he kissed her, moans escaping from both of them.   
  


The doors to the kitchen opened and they heard Tony say, “No!  Not in the kitchen you two, we actually prepare food here.”   
  


Mina turned around and without missing a beat said, “Since when?  That trash can is filled with takeout containers and bags. It’s a graveyard for all our favorite restaurants.”   
  


Tony narrowed his eyes, “Vision cooks.”   
  


“For Wanda, about once a month,” Mina shot back.  “Don’t play this game with me, Tony. You will lose.”   
  


Bucky watched the two of them bicker back and forth, relief washing through him.  This is the Mina he wanted to see come out more. It had been a while since the playful, argumentative side of Mina had made an appearance.  The oven timer went off and Bucky pulled out of her grip to pull the pizza out of the oven.   
  


“You wanna slice Tony?”  Bucky offered.   
  


“No thanks, I’m going out with Pepper tonight. Thanks though,” he grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and left with a wave and a warning that there were cameras in the kitchen and he would know if they did anything saucy.  Mina called back that there were no promises, to which they both heard him snort.   
  


Bucky and Mina moved into the living room where Steve, Wanda, Vision, and Pietro were sitting waiting for them to bring the pizza out.  They turned on a movie and ate in silence. Once the food had been eaten Mina rested her head on Bucky’s lap, his fingers running through her hair.   
  


The others left after the movie ended to go to bed, but Bucky stayed right there letting Mina sleep peacefully.  “Bucky?” She murmured as she began to shift and stretch as she sat up, a yawn escaping her. “What time is it?”   
  


“Don’t know,” he responded truthfully.  “I’ve been letting you sleep. You looked too peaceful.”   
She leaned her head against his shoulder, “I’m still sleepy.”   
  


“Can you make it to our room or do I need to carry you?”  He asked in amusement already knowing what she was going to choose.  She crawled into his lap and hooked her arms around his neck. “Well, that answers that,” he lifted her up bridal style and began carrying her toward their room.   
  


“You opened the floodgates when I learned you had carried me to bed twice back in Wakanda,” she mumbled sleepily.  “This is your own fault.”   
  


“I guess it is,” he responded as he laid her down gently.  “Get some rest, Steve gets you tomorrow and I know for a fact that he is not going to go easy on you.”   
  


She nodded and curled up into a little ball, falling asleep again almost instantly.

  
  


Bucky was right, Steve was not going easy on Mina.  She was actually fighting the super soldier, sweat was soaking her workout clothes, and she was breathing heavily. But other than that she was holding her own pretty well.  It was a powers bared kind of fight, but she was getting to a point where fighting was second nature to her.   
  


He threw a punch toward her face which she easily dodged, and in retaliation she swung around and kicked him in the stomach, sending him stumbling backward.  He regained his balance and came at her again, but this time he feigned a punch and then kicked her legs out.   
  


She landed on her back with an ‘ _u_ _ mf _ ’.  Steve stood over her and helped her up.  “You did good, although hand to hand combat was never really an issue for you.”   
  


Mina bent over trying to catch her breath, “Yeah, hand to hand is about as easy as using my powers.”  She stood up and got back into position, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Don’t tell Bucky but I like fighting you better.”   
  


That got Steve to laugh, “Oh I would have thought you’d enjoyed fighting with your boyfriend better.  I feel honored.”   
  


Mina gave him a half smile, “It’s because you don’t hold your punches.  Bucky’s too afraid he’ll hurt me.” Mina and Steve had a rule that when they trained Bucky couldn’t be in the room.  Partly because of the very reason Mina had just brought up, but also because Mina didn’t like having others watch her train when she was doing hand to hand combat.   
  


Steve nodded grimly, he thought that would be the reason she didn’t like fighting with Bucky.  “It’s the arm isn’t it?”   
  


“Yeah,” she admitted.  “He’s still really self-conscious about the thing.”  He was too afraid he’d hurt her with it when they fought one another.   
  


Steve came at her in attack mode again, he wanted to try and catch her off guard, she dipped to the right to avoid the punch he threw.  “It’s understandable.”   
  


“I’ll probably start training with Natasha again when she gets back,” Mina tried to kick Steve, but he jumped out of the way.  “Have you heard from her or any of the others?” Natasha, Sam, and Scott had all gone out on solo missions to several of the other Enclave bases that they knew of.  They had been gone for a few weeks.   
  


Steve shook his head, “Not since last week, but they should be back any time now.  I’m sure they’re all fine.”   
  


Mina nodded, “I know, it’s just been a few weeks since they’d left and I wondered how they were all doing.”   
  


“Mina, Steve,” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice came over the intercom.  “Shuri would like a word with the two of you in Mr. Banner’s lab.”   
  


“Tell her we’ll be right there,” Steve said as he tossed Mina a towel.   
  


The two of them hurried out of the lab.  “Do you think she found something?” They were practically running down the hall trying to get to the lab as quickly as they could.   
  


“Probably,” Steve responded.  “You know she wouldn’t have sent for us unless there was some kind of news.”   
  


The two of them pushed the doors of the lab open to find Bucky already in the room staring up at the screen Shuri was pointing too.  She looked over at Steve and Mina as they entered the lab. “I have good news,” she announced with a smile, she was bouncing in her seat.  “I haven’t completely figured out the serum yet, but I found out that not all of Mina’s abilities came from it.”   
  


Mina paused, “What?”   
  


Shuri waved her over to where she was sitting.  “Look here.” She pointed to a strand of Mina’s DNA.  “Someone in your family had a genetic mutation. It was dormant, it’s where your fire abilities and such come from.  All the powers that are similar to Wanda’s were in this mutation. It’s been dormant from what I can tell, but when Wladyslav Shinsky started to experiment on you he activated the dormant gene.  It’s one of the reasons you responded so well to the serum, and how you survived.”   
  


Mina stared at the screen a sense of relief washing over her.  “Oh my God,” she whispered.   
  


“You should also have similar abilities to Bucky and Steve because that was the base of the serum they used.  I still don’t know where the invisibility or siren-like qualities came from, but I do know it was whatever they used on you before you were born.”   
  


Bucky wrapped his arm around Mina’s waist, “See doll, not all your gifts are from them.  You were special before they worked on you.”   
  


“Why was the gene dormant?”  Mina asked. “Do you know?”   
  


Shuri shook her head, “Unfortunately I can’t answer that, but without it that serum probably would have killed you, it was never meant to be used on babies like that.”   
  


A weight felt like it had been lifted off of Mina’s shoulders.  She was relieved to hear that not everything she could do had been given to her by the scientists.  She was special on her own. “Is there anything else you can tell me?”   
  


“Other than that, no.  I just thought you’d like to know that.”  She turned in her seat. “Please tell me that makes you feel better.”   
  


“It does Shuri, thank you.”  She hugged her friend and then turned to Steve and Bucky.  “Shall we go tell the others the good news?” They were all more than happy to go share it with the others.   
  


Everyone was happy for her, relieved to have some answers at last, and happy to see Mina smiling again.  As she and Bucky picked a quiet corner by the bar he asked, “So how do you really feel?”   
  


“Good,” she said with a nod of her head.  “I’m just relieved that not everything I can do was given to me by them.  It makes me feel a little more like me. If that makes any sense?”   
  


“It does,” he told her.  “You hated the idea that what made you special wasn’t really apart of you like you were unworthy of it.”  He kissed her palm, “I understand fully, Mina.”   
  


She poured herself some wine and then him some and the two of them rejoined the group and talked some more with Shuri about how close she was to figuring out how the serum was made.  With this latest discov,ery she was more invigorated to keep looking than ever.   
  


“You all decided to throw a party without me,” everyone turned to see Natasha leaning on the wall, not a hair out of place.  “Shame on you all.”   
  


“Come on Nat, we’re celebrating finding out that not all of Mina’s powers were given to her by the Enclave,” Steve said.   
  


“I have some news of my own,” she held up a tiny box.  “I found some more files on Project Siren.” Everyone in the room seemed to freeze at those words.


End file.
